Memories of a Former Life
by black mage wannabe
Summary: When Harry first encounters the dementors on the Hogwarts Express, he can not be fixed with a bar of Professor Lupin's chocolate. Rather than hearing only his dying mother's last words, he also hears the voice of his past, the voice of Aizen Sosuke.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! This is a response to Sharkteeth's request to have a crossover between Harry Potter and Bleach with Harry being the reincarnation of Aizen Sosuke. I always think about these kinds of things and decided to actually write a story. Although instead of having Harry immediately have all the memories and personality of Aizen, he will gradually remember his former life and go through personality changes over the course of the year. There will be spoilers for both Bleach and Harry Potter although if you haven't finished Harry Potter what are you doing reading this? Go finish the books! I'm not too sure if I'm gonna include other Bleach character but I'm kind of leaning towards not having any. If you have any opinion feel free to tell me. I'm really hoping I can fit in Aizen's epic hair style change somewhere since I found it is so strange yet so amazingly awesome. Hahaha

This is actually my first story and I really hope it's ok. I'd love it if people reviewed but it's fine if you don't. I know I don't always review and it would be hypocritical of me to get offended. Please no flames. If you have something to say about it, I'd like constructive criticism please. Feel free to suggest ways to improve the story and please warn me if a character gets too OOC. Since I'm in school, I can't promise to update every week, but I will try to have another chapter within the next few weeks. (keep your fingers crossed) If I stop this story I will say so.

Oh and I almost forgot: I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter. If I did there would be some…changes

Well...Enjoy!!!!

* * *

It was nearing eleven at King's Cross Station in London and sitting inside a stationary ruby train, a thirteen-year-old teen eagerly looked out the window to the clock outside, counting down the seconds until the train's departure. This skinny, emerald eyed, dark haired boy had a quite a few titles for his age: the boy who lived, that Potter brat, scarhead, and the list goes on. The only one he actually liked was his name, Harry James Potter. Unlike most thirteen-year-old teens, Harry was not off to a regular school where one would learn math, science, English, and other similar subjects. Harry was on his way to his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which as you may have guessed a school where children were taught magic. However, even among the magical world, Harry was no regular guy. When he was only a year old, Voldemort, a dark lord who magical people still feared, killed his parents and attempted to kill him. Because of his mother's sacrifice, Harry was saved and Voldemort was defeated. He was sent to live with his horrid family that very night. His Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon despised magic and unsuccessfully tried to prevent Harry being magical. When he was eleven he received his letter from Hogwarts and entered a whole new world. He learned how to fly a broom, how to change a match into a needle, how to levitate objects, how to cast charms, and so much more. Unfortunately, Harry's times at Hogwarts were not always so wonderful. At the end of his first year, he had to stop Voldemort from getting the Sorcerer's Stone and gaining a new body. He barely succeeded, but his second year was perhaps even worse. After being ostracized as the Heir of Slytherin who was attacking muggle-borns, Harry was forced to fight a Basilisk and a sixteen-year-old shade of Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort. Once again he came close to failing and only survived the basilisk's poison due to the healing tears of a phoenix.

Sitting with him in the compartment and bickering for the third time that day, were his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron, a tall, freckled, red haired boy, and Hermione, a bushy haired, "know it all", often fought over the smallest things, but the friendship among the three remained strong. The trio was not alone in the compartment; a man huddled in the corner, who had already been identified as R.J Lupin by Hermione, slept regardless of the noise the three produced.

"Hermione, your bloody cat attacked Scabbers again last night! You better keep that monster in his carrier or who knows what will happen to my poor rat!"

"I will do no such thing Ronald! You will simply have to make sure Scabbers remains in your pocket. Besides for the past two years you've been complaining about that rat. Why on earth do you suddenly care for it so much? You just don't like Crookshanks!"

Harry could not help but let out a sigh. Hermione and Ron had argued about Crookshanks and Scabbers the night before and the night before that and the night before that and…well you get the idea. It was getting pretty annoying. On the other hand, it was kind of nice to see the two acting normal when he had just told them that the escaped mass murderer Sirius Black was after him. When he was about to tell the two to quit arguing, a piercing whistle distracted him. The Hogwarts Express was on its way.

* * *

As the train raced across the countryside, the three friends spoke of trivial things, quidditch and the new subjects they would take this year. The daylight began to dim as they got closer to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their school robes out of their luggage and got ready to change. But the train came to a sudden stop. Harry glanced at the window and noticed the train was had not arrived at Hogwarts yet. He stepped closer to the window to try to figure out where they were, but the window started to frost up. The lights began to flicker and then went out. The group was enveloped in darkness. Suddenly their compartment door slammed open and the trio whipped out their wands, ready to defend themselves.

"Bloody hell, Neville, you stepped on my foot!"

"S-s-sorry, Ginny. I d-d-didn't mean to."

"Ginny, what are you doing here? We told you to leave us alone!"

"Shut up, Ron or I swear I'll give you the worst bat-bogeys you have ever experienced!"

"Don't you talk to me like that!"

"Guys…"

"Ron, don't speak to your sister like that. Ginny, Neville, what's wrong?"

"S-something's wrong, but I don't know what. All the lights are out a-a-and-"

"And we thought we heard someone yell down the train"

"Guys."

"Come on Ginny, nothing like that is gonna happen on the Hogwarts Express. You probably just wanted to get close to Harry because now you worship him more than ever after last year!"

"How dare you Ron! How could you say that?""

"I'll say whatever I bloody want, you stupid bint!"

"I'll show you a stupid bint, you worthless pig!"

"Guys!"

"Ron and Ginny, you two need to stop this now!"

"Don't you interfere with this, Hermione!"

"GUYS!!!"

"QUIET!" a raspy voice yelled with Harry. It seemed RJ Lupin had finally awoken. With a murmured lumos, his wand lit up, illuminating his tired features. He slowly and carefully walked towards the open door, reaching forward to shut it. But it was too late.

When Lupin neared the door, a tall phantom like figure entered the doorway of the compartment. It suddenly was cold, too cold. Harry could not hear the frightened yells of his friends. He could only hear the panicked screams of some woman. Wait, not only screams, there was something else underneath the horrified pleas.

_Not Harry, not Harry!_

_ Admiration…furthest…understanding_

_ Please, not Harry!_

_ …One or two pieces of dust to scatter?_

_ Not Harry, please no!_

_ Hogyoku…ryoka…_

_ Take me, kill me instead!_

_ YOU ARE NOT YET READY TO HEAR MY NAME AGAIN_

With that last voice, the rest stopped and faded away. He could make out Lupin driving away the being with some sort of silver light, but everything started to blur. He could somewhat see his friends coming towards him, but he could not bring himself to care or do anything. The compartment slowly was replaced by black, as were the worried faces of Lupin and his friends.

It was so strange though, Harry thought as he began to fall into unconsciousness. That last voice seemed so familiar. Far more familiar than the screams of that woman, whoever she was. His last thought as he slipped into darkness was of his desire to know the name of that strange yet strongly familiar voice.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again everyone! Thank you all so much for reading my story! It's already been favorited 12 times and been put on 23 people's alert lists. I never expected that! And a special thanks to B-Twili, Son of Kalas, jormundgandr, ionab, and DragonKnight Shaun for giving me my first 5 reviews! I hope this chapter is as well-received as the last one. Thanks again!

If you have any comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism please include them in a review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Bleach

* * *

"Dementors! Bloody dementors on a train full of school children! Imagine what might have happened if Remus hadn't been there!"

"Yes, Poppy, I agree that the dementors are horrible creatures, but unfortunately the Ministry deemed them necessary. There is nothing I can do."

Harry could once again hear familiar voices but none called out to his soul as that one had earlier. The voices now were still hard to hear clearly, and he had missed most of what they were saying. He almost attempted to open his eyes, but suddenly the thought of continuing to listen slipped into his mind, perhaps he could learn some information about what those phantom figures were, information that the teachers would hide if they knew he was awake. Harry noted in the back of his mind that this was a very Slytherin-like thing to do, but he paid little attention to that nagging feeling about Gryffindor honor and such.

The voices, which he now recognized as Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore, continued.

"Albus, you should put your foot down about these monsters. You are the most respected and powerful wizard in England, and you are Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. You can do something!"

"Now, now, Poppy, there is no reason to get so angry at the headmaster. I would bet all my potion ingredients that Potter once again tried to showoff and drive off the dementor, which is no fault of Dumbledore's. The dementors are here to keep a dangerous escaped convict away and perhaps even end his worthless existence. I suggest that Potter serve detention for once more attempting to be the center of attention," said a smug voice that filled Harry with anger and seething hatred. It was the voice of Severus Snape, the potions teacher of Hogwarts and the one who almost seemed to hate Harry more than Voldemort. Harry returned Snape's feeling of hatred with equal fervor. Although he had to suffer through listening to that git, at least now he knew the name of that dark being.

"Severus, now is not the time for your petty feelings toward Mister Potter. Everyone in the compartment, Remus included, told us that Harry simple slumped over seconds after the dementor was driven away. Just think of how much danger he was in! We might be dealing with a soulless child rather than a traumatized one!" exclaimed Professor Minerva McGonagall in her Scottish brogue. Harry felt relief at her defense of him, but when he heard the word "soulless", something inside of him whispered too quietly to be heard. If only he could hear the voice again. If only it was just a bit louder…

"Well, Albus, I insist that you and the professors return to the feast as I must treat my patient. So please, leave and I'll tell you when he wakes up." With these final words Madame Pomfrey walked over to Harry and began to use some sort of magic on him. Harry had no idea what the spells were, and for some reason, this angered him. There was so much he did not know. He had been in the wizarding world for two years, but he barely knew the Hogwarts Curriculum, let alone the many spells the professors used. He had been wasting his time and energy when there was a new world open to him.

As he thought of his mistakes in ignoring such a great opportunity of gaining new knowledge ("Why should I be so concerned about this?" He vaguely wondered), he heard three sets of footsteps walk away and the opening and closing of the Hospital Wing's door. Just moments after the door closed, his thoughts were interrupted by Madame Pomfrey.

"I knew as soon as I cast these spells that you were awake Mr. Potter, so please open your eyes, I have a few questions for you."

For a split second, Harry considered refusing to both open his eyes and answer the questions and instead beg to go the feast. However, once again he did something he would never have considered before. He opened his eyes, put a pleasant smile on his face, and with an air of charm he never knew he possessed he answered Madame Pomfrey.

"Of course Madame Pomfrey. Please feel free to ask any question you think might explain my fainting on the train."

From the look on her face she was a tiny bit surprised he did not decide to fight her an very thankful for it. "Well, Mr. Potter, I already know what caused your fainting spell. A Dementor. Filthy creatures. They are the guards of Azkaban prison and suck the happiness from people and if you're unfortunate enough your soul." Once again he thought he heard a nearly inaudible whisper in his mind. "But, what I am curious about is why you did not wake up for so long. You've been unconscious for a few hours. You were only in contact with the dementor for a very short time and should have woken up after only a few minutes. I know this may be difficult, but what exactly did you hear or see when the dementor affected you?"

The thought of telling her about the two voices did not even cross Harry's mind. He had thankfully realized just minutes ago that the voice of the woman was most likely his mother, it made the most sense and would no doubt cause Madame Pomfrey to sympathize with him. The friendly smile left his face, replaced with trembling lips and sad eyes. "I-I heard my mother's death. It was horrible, she was begging Voldemort to spare me and take her. It was terrible…"

As Harry spoke he could not help but wonder at how easily he was manipulating Madame Pomfrey's emotions, especially as he was using his mother's murder. He had thought himself to be an awful liar, but apparently he had greatly improved.

"Oh my dear child! How horrific! A truly awful memory has been said to affect the length of a dementor-induced blackout. How could I have not considered this? I am so sorry that I dragged up the memory once again! Now you need rest." She walked over to her cabinet, pulled out a potion, and brought it to Harry. "Dreamless sleep. It'll keep away the nightmares you no doubt would have had due to that dreadful dementor. Drink this up, stay here for the night, and you'll be fine and ready for breakfast and class in the morning."

With these final words Madame Pomfrey walked off, muttering about the horrors of dementors and the tragedy of such a poor young boy having to suffer through something so awful at such a young age. Harry ignored her murmurs and briefly thought about leaving the hospital wing and sneaking off to the Gryffindor common room, but for the third and final time that night something completely unexpected changed his mind. The thought that healers were often more powerful than they appeared and an image of a woman with a long black braid hanging around her neck stopped him from leaving his bed. Pomfrey had absolutely no resemblance to this woman whose image was already fading away, but Harry thought it better to be safe than sorry.

He looked down into the purple potion Madame Pomfrey gave him and for a short moment, he desired tea more than anything else. He shook his head and chugged the potion. He could feel his eyelids growing heavier and his mind slowing down. Without even realizing, he fell asleep. True to Madame Pomfrey's words, he had no dreams.

He just heard a minuscule voice calling out to him all night, still too quiet to be properly heard…but a little bit louder than it had been before.


	3. Chapter 3

Howdy everyone! Sorry it's taken me over a week to update. It's been kinda busy at school. I've been working on a paper and as soon as I literally just finished an hour ago. I've been working for the past week, but I was having some trouble figuring out where to go during this chapter. I hope you all like it! I'm trying to have everything accurately portrayed, but I'm not going to have everything perfect. If I don't get their third-year schedule right or what people often eat for breakfast in England or Scotland, I'm sorry but like I said not everything is going to be 100% perfect. If I made any super huge mistakes I'd like to know though.

Thanks to my new reviewers: Sosuke Aizen678, Narlth, Scarmagista, Fez8745, Kyrial Halcoryn, moshi95 AKA sherley C., Aoihand, Folkens, BioHazard82, Kitsumi-Hime, MaliciousDoughnut, ztanita, Inumaru12, and emperor-soul. And thanks again to Son of Kalas and DragonKnight Shaun for reviewing my story again!

I do not own Harry Potter of Bleach. If only...

* * *

Early the next morning Harry awoke to Madame Pomfrey telling him that he had to go to his Common Room and get prepared for the first day of Hogwarts. He shook off the lingering feelings of drowsiness from his long sleep and began to make his way to the Common Room. As he walked through the familiar halls of Hogwarts, the few students that were up and walking about, mostly Ravenclaws, stared at him and whispered. He slightly quickened his pace and finally arrived at the Gryffindor Common Room after hearing various comments about the incident on the train. The gossip he heard varied greatly; One claimed that the dementor had kissed him, but he had no soul to devour, and another, likely getting his tale from Snape, insisted that he was nothing more than an attention-grabbing brat. There were a few more he heard, but it was all too absurd to put any effort into remembering.

_Fools. They ignore common sense in favor of listening and blindly believing the rumors of the school and world._

He walked up the stairs into his dormitory and found all his roommates still asleep. With no desire to answer their questions they would no doubt have, he quietly gathered his uniform and changed in the bathroom. Afterwards, he left the Common Room and went down to eat his first meal of the school year. The Great Hall was about halfway full with a few students trickling in every few minutes. He slipped in the hall, somehow avoiding any notice .The first thing on the table he went for was not the eggs, the waffles, or even chocolate chip pancakes, but tea. He then gathered an average amount of food and began to eat.

Shortly after he started his meal, Neville arrived, sat down next to him and gave him a smile. "How are you doing, Harry?"

"Perfectly fine, but I really don't want to talk about it. How was your summer, Neville?" This started a quiet conversation about their summers. The two continued to talk and eat as Professor McGonagall handed out schedules. Neville then ran off in a panic to get prepared for class. He had forgotten his book bag in the dormitory that morning, as he often did.

When he was done with his breakfast and halfway through his second cup of tea he heard a shout from the entrance of the Great Hall.

"HARRY!" It was Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, he knew without looking. Only they would have caused such a spectacle. With their shout, the students in the now full Great Hall turned towards him and immediately started to whisper.

_Could they have shouted any louder? They haven't seen me for 12 hours not 12 months. Idiots…_

Harry shook his head to rid himself of his anger. It was not a big deal that they ruined his peaceful morning. They were his friends. He had no reason to be angry. But still the thought of the idiocy of his friends remained in his mind.

Although Harry's mind was conflicted, it was impossible to see it on his face. He gave the three a smile as they ran down the hall to see him.

_How dramatic._

"Harry, are you ok? We were all so worried, even the new professor!. I tried to go the library after the feast to look for information about Dementors and dementor attacks, but Madame Pince wouldn't let me in. If you're not ok, I'm more than ready to go research!"

"You looked terrible, mate!"

"…" Ginny was staring at him with rather star struck eyes. Harry was surprised that his fainting had not lessened her crush on him, but instead it had strengthened it. Perhaps she was actually in love with him…weird. The look she gave him reminded him of someone else, but to his knowledge he never knew anyone else in love with him. Once again a face he had never seen crossed his mind. A small girl with her black hair tied up in a bun and the same look in her eyes as Ginny. But like the night before the image left his mind in mere moments.

"I'm fine, you guys. Why don't we talk about it later though, so we can avoid unwanted eavesdroppers." When he said that last word, he calmly looked around the hall and with a tiny bit of glee watched those listening guiltily turn away from him. All but one.

"Potter, once again you show the world how pathetic you really are! I mean you actually fainted!" It was Draco Malfoy, Harry's Slytherin rival. With these final words he and the rest of the Slytherin table began to laugh and point. With reflexes Harry didn't know he had, he grabbed Ron's arm that was going for his wand. He then gave a small smile to Malfoy, turned around, and went back to his tea.

"Harry, what did you do that for? He insulted you! Dirty Slytherin." Ron loudly whispered. Ginny nodded her head, agreeing with Ron. Hermione, on the other had, was giving Harry a questioning look.

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron's eager attitude to harm Malfoy. "Ron, you would have been in deep trouble with the teachers, especially Snape. You don't want us behind in the House Cup on the first day, do you? Anyway, hurry up and eat, we have to be in Divination in twenty minutes." Ron needed no more encouragement to eat and immediately started piling food on his plate. In no time, he began to shovel it down his through much to the disgust of Hermione and surprisingly Harry as well.

After Hermione and Ron were done with their food, the trio ran all over the castle in a mad search to find Divination. They made it with seconds to spare and climbed up the ladder to join their classmates in the tower. Inside the dark room were small tables with chairs surrounding them. The trio sat together at one table and waited for class to start.

A buggy-eyed woman with large glasses entered the room and introduced herself as Professor Trelawney. She then began to talk about the "most difficult of magical arts", divination. Apparently few people could correctly tell the future and needed the "inner eye". She also would often look at Harry with a strange look on her face.

"You have gone through an enormous change, Mr. Potter. You are so different than before…Have you changed your shampoo by any chance?" Professor Trelawney asked in a tone desperately trying to be mystical and all knowing.

"…No."

_Well, this class is nothing more than a waste of my time._

With a huff Trelawney lost her mystical attitude and briskly began lecturing the class on how to read tealeaves. The incense and the darkness of the room started to play with Harry's mind, leaving him feeling tired even after a full night's sleep. His eyelids began to droop and even as Hermione elbowed him in the stomach, he lost all awareness of the real world.

And once again a voice was calling out to him. This time however he could understand one word that it said.

_Remember…_

_

* * *

_

_He nonchalantly stood alone in a room waiting for his true vice captain and the other to enter. He paid no attention to the long-dead corpses of the Central 46 and their dried blood all over the walls and floor. It had been so easy to kill them all and take control of the Soul Society. Just a little while longer and he would have the key to his plans and the power he desired more than anything._

_A few minutes passed and he could finally feel a few spiritual pressures approaching. Histugaya and Matsumoto were closest, right at the door actually. And little Hinamori was close behind them. Kira was nearing the Central 46 as well. With a slight smile on his face, he walked off further into the chambers to wait for the next part of his plan._

_"Gin, be prepared to greet my dear Hinamori-kun."_

_Gin stepped out of the shadows and looked toward him, smiling his ever-present smile. "Of course, I'll make sure Himamori-chan gets to ya safe and sound." After his words, Gin walked off to the entrance of the chambers. He smiled to himself; everything was working out perfectly._

_Time seemed to move so quickly and then Hinamori was already walking through the entrance of the room he now stood in. He greeted her, giving her false apologies and words of comfort. He then wrapped his arms around her. With a look of pure love on her young face she returned his embrace. And as she held onto him, he removed his beautiful zanpakto from its sheath and ran it through her stomach._

_"Good-bye." He allowed her limp body to fall to the ground and turned his back on her._

_"Let's go, Gin." He began to walk out of the room with Gin falling into step behind him_

_"Yes, Captain Aizen."_

_YOU ARE CLOSER. BUT YOU STILL ARE NOT YET READY TO HEAR MY NAME._

_

* * *

_

AN: not too sure how the scene with Hinamori's stabbing went. I wasn't sure if I should have included any of her dialogue in the scene. Please please please tell me in a review if you think I should rewrite it. I'm on the fence right now...

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Howdy gals and pals! I bet you're all gonna be super suprised to see an update so quickly, but I couldn't help it. I'd much rather write about Aizen than do Spanish homework. Probably not too helpful for my GPA, but it's a lot more fun haha. Not too sure how much I'm gonna update this week. I will have time off of school so I probably will, but I will be spending time with family so it might not be until the weekend.

And now to shamelessly promote another story! I'm starting a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Naruto crossover where Xander dresses up as a member of Akatsuki for Halloween in the second season. Don't worry though this story that you are now reading will still be my first priority. I have a poll asking you which character you'd like him to dress up as. Friday will be the last day to vote.

Anyway, thanks to all those who were kind enough to take the time to leave me a review: Sefirot, Saemir, sakura oni chi, yami no kaze, and yakitunafish. And special thanks to all those who reviewed my story again: Aoihand, Biohazard32, ianiob, inumaru12, and DragonKnight Shaun. Thank you all so much!

And to all Americans: Happy Thanksgiving! (Well almost) And everyone else have a fantastic week!

I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter. I wish I did though...

* * *

_The landscape changed to a cliff overlooking the Soul Society with the __Sōkyoku__ just a few feet away. All were staring at him with anger and the tiniest bit of fear in their eyes. He knew that Isane and Unohona had revealed him as a traitor. Oh well, it did not affect his plan in any way. He lazily looked at all those gathered in front of him, but he noticed that there was no fear in the eyes of the orange haired ryoka. Strange. He would have to show him to fear his power. He opened his mouth to speak to the soul reapers and ryoka gathered at the __Sōkyoku__ …_

* * *

Harry was jerked awake and found that he was on the floor of the divination classroom. Hermione was glaring angrily at him and Ron was looking at him with amusement.

"Harry, you've been asleep for the past twenty minutes. Professor," she said this word with quite a lot of disdain, "Trelawney will be coming by in a minute to see us looking at each other's teacups."

With no desire to be in trouble the first day of school, Harry quickly got back into his seat. "Come on, you have to drink your tea, Harry" Hermione hurriedly whispered to him as Trelawney began to make her way across the room to them.

_Well that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all._

By the time Trelawney had arrived at the table, the trio were looking into their empty teacups as if they could actually see something in each other's cups other than the drips and soggy grounds that were left behind.

"Well now, you three, let's see how powerful your inner eye is. Tell me what you see in each other's cups," Trelawney demanded in a brisk tone much more like McGonagall than her mystical tone the the beginning of class. Hermione and Ron put their heads above Harry's cup and squinted their eyes and tilted their heads to the side in an attempt to see something in the grounds remaining in the cup.

"Well that kinda looks like a stick, which means…," Ron began to flip through the book, "that you're gonna get into some kind of fight, I think. Maybe with that prick, Malfoy."

Hermione grabbed the cup from Ron's grasp. "Don't be silly, Ron. It's a wand of course. According to this oh so well written book," the sarcasm in her voice was evident to all in the room, "that means you'll learn some new magic. What a surprise considering you are in a magical school."

Finally Harry decided to look into the cup. He did see the grounds make some kind of straight and long shape, but it was not a stick or a wand. It was the sword. The same sword he had held in his dream. The dream was already fading, as were the faces and names that made it up no matter how hard he tried to hold on to it. The only thing that clearly remained was the sword. What had he called it in the dream…zanbabo? Zantako? No it was zanpakto. That was the right word. There was no doubt in his mind. The voice that had been whispering in his mind since the dementor seemed to yell out in joy.

A scream shook him from his thoughts. "My dear child, this is no stick or wand! It is the Grim!" Half the room burst into whispers and threw him pitying looks. Neville had even fallen out of his chair.

"Grim?" He questioned.

"It's a big, black dog that means you're gonna die, Harry. Some guy in my family saw it and died just a day later." Ron's entire face had gone pale making his freckles stand out even more than usual. Harry glanced back into the teacup. And then looked at Trelawney. And looked back into the cup.

_How the hell does a zanpakto resemble in any way a big, black dog?_

"Poor, poor child. Please class leave. Go on to your next class. I am too overcome by sadness to continue to teach." She began to theatrically sob. Harry immediately gathered his things and was the first student out of the classroom with everyone closely following him.

_Stupid woman. And once more all the attention is on me. No doubt the story will be all over the school by lunch. Perhaps someone will connect it to the dementors, say that they were attempting to kill me since the grim has apparently damned me to die._

He paid little attention to Hermione's reassurances and Ron's fearful glances. He just concentrated on the route to the Transfiguration classroom, ready to use some actual magic instead of the useless subject Divination.

* * *

The rest of the day passed quite uneventfully. Transfiguration went by surprisingly easily. He had managed to make transform the hedgehog into a shoe, but switched it back before anyone noticed. He had had enough attention today to last him for the rest of the school year. Charms had been after lunch and once again he completed the assignment without anyone's notice. Or so he thought.

After dinner, Harry was returning to the Common Room with Hermione. Ron had wanted to continue eating so they decided to leave him there with Dean and Seamus, as the two had no desire to witness Ron stuffing his face for the third time that day. As they walked, Hermione was chatting about the lessons, all the homework she had been assigned (_How did she manage to get to all her classes today anyway?_), and her eagerness to return to the library.

Harry, on the other hand, was trying to remember something else about his dream other than the sword. No it was a zanpakto. But he had had no luck. He could only occasionally remember a few names (_Gin, Himamori, Hitusgaya, Matsumoto, Kira)_ but they flowed through his mind and then left, never staying in his mind for long. As he reminisced he gave Hermione short answers, mostly one or two words. Suddenly she came to a stop and looked towards him. He almost kept on walking, he was so caught up in his thoughts.

"Harry, what's been going on today? You've been acting strange. You stopped Ron from attacking Draco when usually you would have at least yelled something back. You were nearly impossible to wake up in divination and then in charms and transfiguration you completed the assignment but wouldn't take any credit for it. What is wrong with you?" Harry turned to Hermione. She had a fearful look on her face and her hand was actually inching toward her wand as if she didn't even think he was Harry.

_Have I really been that different? And if I have changed how could I have been that obvious?_

Much like his conversation with Madame Pomfrey, Harry forced a miserable expression to spread across his face and looked down to the ground. Once again he had absolutely no intention of sharing his recent experiences with voices with anyone and heartlessly used Hermione's emotions to manipulate her without truly knowing how he was doing so. "Hermione, when the dementor came to me, I… I could hear my mother's last words. It reminded me that the only reason I'm known all over the wizarding world is because my mum sacrificed herself for me. And in Divination I was dreaming about her death…it was awful…Anyway, all the attention I get reminds me of her and my dad. I didn't want any more of it. That's why I didn't want anyone to see my progress in Charms and Transfiguration. I had enough attention today already. "

_Well it's not exactly a lie. Except for the part about my dream. The best way to lie is to use it with the truth._

He looked to Hermione and saw tears in her eyes. "Oh my goodness, Harry, I am so sorry! If I had known I never would have brought it up. I swear! Please forgive me!" The tears began to leak from her eyes. He knew she wanted forgiveness, she did not want to anger and possibly lose one of the only two friends she had. His parents' death had obviously always been a touchy subject.

_Not anymore though. I'm callously using their deaths to keep people from questioning me. Maybe something really is wrong._

"Of course, Hermione. It was no fault of your's. I'm not mad at you or even annoyed. Please don't be upset." Harry knew he should be feeling something as one of his best friends was almost breaking down in front of him, but all he could give were empty words of comfort. Banishing these thoughts from his mind, he wrapped his arms around her. Although it was forgotten to him now, he was giving Hermione the very same hug he had shared with another girl in his dream. And as he held her just down the hall from the Common Room entrance, for a split second all he wanted was to hold a beautiful sword in his hands and shove it through her, his own best friend. But the desire was forgotten. And their embrace the two shared in the hallway was one of the last true moments he would share with his friends. For Harry was beginning to change and nothing could be done to stop it.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry everyone. I had to fix a tiny mistake.

* * *

Howdy everybody! I know I said I would update over Thanksgiving break, but more was going on than I thought there would be so whoops. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. There's not going to be another one until after the 14th. My last tests are going on and finals are like a week away so no time for this. Also I put up another story that I would love for more people to read. It's a Buffy Naruto crossover so if you like those read it!

Anyway welcome new reviewers: alchino, , Phnxfyr1, musizlover2008, LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin, and x9tails. And thanks to continuing reviewers: Sosuke Aizen678, Biohazard82, DragonKnight Shaun, and inumaru12. Please leave a review even if it just says 1 word!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Bleach

* * *

The next few weeks of school went by surprisingly uneventfully. Neither Harry nor Hermione mentioned their hug outside the Common Room. Divination continued to be full of death predictions. Trelawney was already up to sixty-three. There was a pool going on in all four of the houses what number she would get up to by the end of the year. Defense Against the Dart Arts was fairly interesting. Professor Lupin had mentioned that he had had a boggart for the first class, but Snape had "accidently" gotten rid of it. So they discussed other dark creatures such as Hinkypunks and Grindylows (_the name actually sounded a tiny bit familiar, but he could never think of who it actually reminded him of_). Potions class was as horrible as it was the last two years due to Snape. Harry was now refusing to rise to the bait and would often just give Snape a calm smile rather than the angry looks of the past. And just like on the first day, Harry was grasping concepts far more easily. He was actually putting effort into his reading and homework.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Harry's lack of strange dreams that seemed almost. After falling asleep during the first Divination class, Harry had dreamt normal dreams. However, although Harry no had not had another dream that seemed too life-like to be real, there was still that voice whispering in the back of his head, still too quiet to be properly heard, and he continued to sometimes criticize his friends in his mind. But nobody knew. Everyone thought that he was the same Harry James Potter, and his improvement in school was gradual enough that no one really noticed.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also working together in an effort to clear Buckbeak, a hippogriff of Hagrid's that had been provoked by Malfoy and attacked the brat. Although Harry was not truly concerned with the life of Buckbeak, he was interested in the laws of the wizarding world. Researching with Ron and Hermione gave him new insight into the wizarding world. From the books on magical creature laws that he had read he learned that the magical people of Britain had a large superiority complex and looked down on creatures and muggles alike. No doubt this would come back to haunt them.

_The muggles are not nearly as powerless as the wizards think. Someone could take advantage of the wizarding world's ignorance. And one could promise the werewolves, vampires, centaurs, and the many other races that you had every intention of giving them equal rights or revenge for the injustices they had suffered through, and they would instantly join your side._

Once again Harry shook his head. It was no time to be thinking about allies for a takeover of the magical world. He was in transfiguration and needed to concentrate on the new spell. He tuned back into Professor McGonagall and by the end of the lesson, he had a good grasp on the spell. As the students gathered their things, Professor McGonagall made an announcement.

"All Gryffidors, please hand in your Hogsmeade permission slips to me. No form, no visit. That is final." Harry's classmates eagerly brought her their slips and left the classroom, talking excitedly about the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade that weekend. Harry felt a small pang of unhappiness, but he was not as upset as he thought he would be. He could use some time alone, without having to deal with Ron and Hermione over his shoulder every minute of every day.

"Harry, talk to McGonagall. She'll let you go, you're the boy-who-lived!" Harry could detect the jealousy in Ron's tone that he had never noticed before the dementor.

"No, she won't, Ron. She can't break the rules for Harry. It wouldn't be fair." And once again the two were about to start another pointless argument.

Harry hid his annoyance and calmly began to speak to them. "You guys, it's ok. I'll try to work on some homework while everyone's visiting Hogsmeade. I might even research some more for Buckbeak. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." The trio soon forgot the topic and they walked on to lunch.

* * *

Harry put a wistful look on his face as he watched the many students made the trek to the horseless carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade. With a final wave, he turned from the window and went to the table to work on some of his homework. After about an hour the Common Room had emptied. He stood up from the table and went to his dormitory to retrive his invisibility cloak. He then made his way to the library. He was planning to slip into the restricted section to look at some of the books forbidden to the general student population. He really had no idea why, but he craved the knowledge that rested there.

Harry ducked into an empty classroom close to the library and put on the invisibility cloak. He ducked into the library, careful to avoid Madame Pince and the few students inside. He slipped into the restricted section and began to look at all the books.

_Hmmm… Torture Magic. No, too barbaric. A Beginner's Guide to the Lost Art of Necromancy. Rubbish, the dead are dead. Blood Magic and Ruins. Interesting, but getting caught doing blood magic would be hard to talk my way out of…_

As he was searching, he came across a book that had been put into the shelves binding first, so all he saw of it was its pages. Doubting that he would find anything important, he pulled the book out to fix its position in the shelves. He glanced at the title and the voice in his mind seemed to scream out in joy as it had when he saw the zanpakto in the teacup.

_The Dark Magic of Illusions_

Harry dropped the book as his head burst into pain. He grabbed his head and had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. A voice that seemed more familiar than any of his friends or even his own was flying in and out of his head, speaking to someone.

_I've had it in my hand this whole time…_

Harry's hands felt empty. There was something missing that was supposed to be there, the sword that he had seen in his dream. He needed it. He could almost see it resting in his hands. Where had it gone?

_It possesses the power of complete hypnosis…complete hypnosis controls the five senses…_

Harry desired that power over the senses, but it was lost to him.

_For now…_

Finally the voice drifted away, but as it left him, he could hear steps coming towards him. Someone had heard him. He put the book away for he could not take it with him, made sure he was completely covered by the cloak, and ran away as softly and quickly as he could. But he would return later to examine that book.

Once Harry left the library, he returned to the empty classroom and removed the invisibility cloak. He slipped back into the empty hallway. Better safe than sorry. He slowly walked through the halls on his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Before he was even halfway there he passed a window and saw some carriages already returning from Hogsmeade.

_I suppose I was browsing through the library longer than I thought._

He continued his walk, reached the Fat Lady, and entered the Common Room. Inside Ron and Hermione were waiting for him.

"Harry!" The two exclaimed. Harry waved to them and walked over. They were each holding large bags and when he reached them, they handed them over.

"Here you go, mate. Since you couldn't go to Hogsmeade, we figured we'd bring Hogsmeade to you," Ron said with a happy grin. Harry felt his heart twinge. He had been pretty awful to them. Not to their face, but in his mind. However, he could not stop the thoughts. He reached inside and pulled out a chocolate frog. He was about to open it when his hand was slapped away.

"Harry, it's almost time for the Halloween feast. You can't ruin your appetite now. So what were you up to today?" Hermione asked him.

_Perhaps it's things like that that get me so angry. Oh well_

Harry gave them a very edited version of his day, saying he had researched more for Buckbeak at the library but found nothing. After a half hour of meaningless chatting, the trio headed down to the Halloween feast.

* * *

The dinner was as wonderful as it had been his first year and it was with a very full stomach that he walked back to the Common Room. He laughed and made jokes with Hermione, Ron, and even Neville as they trekked up the many staircases. When they finally got close to the Fat Lady, the way was backed up. They could hear the whispers of the other students.

"She's gone!"

"There are slashes across her canvass!"

"What do you think happened?"

Harry got on his toes and peered over the heads of the students to see that the Fat Lady had indeed vanished from her torn portrait. The professors arrived and after they finally found her, they attempted to find out who had done such a thing. She refused to answer, but Peeves the poltergeist provided the answer for them

"She refused to let him in without the password. He got very angry with her. A nasty temper he has, that Sirius Black," Peeves said as he grinned at their now frightened faces. The students gasped and began to whisper more than ever. Even the teachers looked nervous. Harry was completely stunned. With the dementor incident, the dream, and now the book of illusions, he had completely forgotten there was a mass murderer after him.

"Oh, bugger!"


	6. Chapter 6

Hello readers! Sorry that it's been a little while since I've updated, but finals unfortunately come first. Now that it's winter break I'm going to try my hardest to get a chapter up every week. I'm glad everyone's enjoying my story! I've reached sixty reviews! Yay!

Welcome new reviewers: bloodgolore, ShadowOkamiYokai, RmfD, 2stupid, Salamander Hanzo, My Ashland, Saturnblue, Adel Mortescryche, and samurai89. Thanks again to my continuing reviewers: , musizlover2008, BioHazard82, DragonKnight Shaun, LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin, and Fez845

And a super-special-awesome thanks to Sosuke Aizen678 who has really been helping me out a lot! Also they reminded me of something I need to say: Illusions are not the exact same thing as hypnosis, but Harry's not going to find a book on hypnosis, something that to me seems pretty muggle, in the library. Hypnosis will have to wait until he gets Kyoka Suigetsu.

Anyway please enjoy this new chapter! I don't own Harry Potter or Bleach by the way. If only wishes could come true...

* * *

Harry and the other students were quickly ushered down the stairs by the worried professors. The students exchanged frightened looks and spoke to each other in urgent whispers. Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout left the group to gather the students of their houses. Dumbledore and McGonagall led the way down to the Great Hall. A portrait of an old, rather large wizard gave a pointed look toward Dumbledore who nodded in return. The figure made a motion to the other portraits and began to run through the pictures to a different part of the castle. He could see various figures from the many portraits running through the frames as well.

_Some kind of pre-established emergency system? They're no doubt running through the castle and searching for Black. They probably serve as Dumbledore's eyes even when something like this isn't going on. Perhaps, I should put my invisibility cloak to more use to void being seen by them._

The Gryffindors arrived in the Great Hall in just a few minutes and the students of the other three houses came shortly after. The rest of the houses seemed to have learned of the attack on the Fat Lady's portrait, and whispered to each other, much like the Gryffindors earlier. Dumbledore clapped his hands, commanding the students' attention as only he could.

"Students, you may speak and prepare yourselves for bed for ten minutes, and then it's lights out!" Ordered Dumbledore. He then summoned purple sleeping bags for all the students and turned to the professors to give them orders for the night.

The hall once more filled with whispers and Harry noticed a few students seemed worried. He glanced at a group of girls huddled together nearby, sitting on their sleeping bags. In that group was Ginny, her face was deathly pale and she looked quite frightened. Hermione followed his look and gave a her a sigh.

"Poor girl. She isn't having the best experience at Hogwarts. First she's possessed by You-Know-Who's diary, and now an escaped convict has gotten inside Hogwarts. She's supposed to feel safe here, but it's just not happening." As she spoke, Ron fell asleep in the cushy sleeping bag. Hermione rolled her eyes and got into her bag, but not before she gave Ron a good kick for ignoring his sister's plight. Ron grumbled at her but unfortunately for him, he couldn't fall back asleep.

However, Harry did not immediately get into the sleeping bag. He stood up and walked over to Ginny. All eyes were on him. He kneeled down to her level and smiled. He softly said to her, too quiet for anyone else to hear, "Ginny, don't worry. Anybody who tries to hurt you or the students or even the professors will have to go through me first." He then reached his hand out and gave her a friendly pat on the head, a gesture that seemed familiar to him.

Ginny's eyes were filled with tears and she sighed, "Oh, Harry…"

Harry's eyes widened as the face of the girl from his dream appeared in Ginny's place. Instead of Ginny's bright red hair and freckles, all he could see was black hair tied up and flawless skin. But they had the same look in their eyes, the look of love that bordered on fanatical. Like Ginny before her, the girl from his dream sighed and whispered his name. But it was not Harry Potter.

_Oh, Captain Aizen…_

Aizen. That was the name the strange, smiling man called him in the dream. In a daze, he began to walk back to his sleeping bag, but it was as if a dam had been opened. As he walked the image of the girl was replaced by the woman with a braid wrapped around her neck that he had pictured on the first night of school. Unlike the girl's eyes, hers were filled with fury and resolve.

_I won't call you captain anymore. You're just S__ô__suke Aizen…the traitor._

His steady pace was interrupted by a slight stumble. Such a strange name, but it seemed to fit him more than Harry ever had. But now he was faced with even more questions. Was he a traitor? Who had he betrayed? What was going on?

Her image faded away like the one before and was replaced as well. He had never seen this figure in his dreams, but like all the others, it was so familiar. However, it did not look completely human. He was paler than anyone he had ever seen, with black hair, and green eyes with black lines running down his face like tears underneath them. On his head was some kind of helmet that looked as if it was made of bone with a horn jutting out from the top. And there was a hole going right through the bottom of his neck. What the hell was he?

_Lord Aizen…_

He reached his sleeping bag just as the image of that creature faded, and he collapsed on it. Why did it call him lord? Why would something that looked quite powerful (regardless of its somewhat scrawny body) respect him so deeply? Rather than answer his many questions, the figures only served to confuse him more. He ignored Ron and Hermione's attempts to discuss the happenings of the evening, and he quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Sirius Black was never found and the students and staff of Hogwarts remained on edge for the rest of the weekend. Harry noticed that Snape had been sending even more hate-filled glares at Lupin than usual. Classes resumed, much to everyone but Hermione and surprisingly Harry's disappointment.

After the excitement of the Halloween feast and Sirius Black's infiltration of Hogwarts, Harry thought that Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin the following Monday would be quite boring in comparison. He had not been able to focus in his earlier classes, especially Potions; He had almost blown up the cauldron. He was still confused about the people (_was that last man actually a person or was he some kind of monster?_) he had seen the night before. Unlike the previous dreams and flashes of images, their faces and words did not leave his mind. The name "Sôsuke Aizen" did not escape him either. And the ever-present voice in the back of his head was just a bit louder. He shook his head in an effort to rid himself of these thoughts and tried to pay attention to whatever Ron was saying as they walked to class.

"The Cannons only lost by 350 points in their last game! At this rate, they'll be champs in no time, Harry!"

_Must walk faster!_

He quickened his pace and reached the class room with Ron nearly running after him. Hermione came in shortly after with her arms filled with too many books for too many subjects. The other Gryffindors trickled into the classroom for the next few minutes. Harry was surprised to see that Professor Lupin had not yet arrived. The students pulled out their books and turned to the next chapter they were covering. Harry flipped past Grindylows, Hinkypunks, and Red Caps and landed on vampires. He was quite excited to learn about the beings that he had thought were make-believe until he was eleven.

Just a few seconds after class was supposed to start, Professor Lupin hurried in with an eager look on his face. The class stopped their chatting, ready for an interesting lesson. Lupin smiled and said, "Books away, class. I've finally found a boggart! Come along!" Harry remembered that Lupin had intended for a boggart to serve as the first lesson, but Snape had destroyed it before the class met. He had meant to check on what boggarts actually were, but he had forgotten about it due to all the work in his classes.

Professor Lupin and the Gryffindors walked out of the classroom and began the trek to an empty room on the fourth floor. "The original boggart you all were meant to face was in the staff's lounge inside a wardrobe. This one is in a cabinet in a classroom. Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. The charm to repel them is quite simple. _Riddikulus_!" He went as they walked, discussing how boggarts turn into one's greatest fear and how laughter weakened them. When the group reached the room, everyone, even Neville after a confidence booster from Lupin, was ready to face the boggart. Everyone but Harry, that is.

He couldn't think of what his greatest fear was. He considered Lord Voldemort, but quickly rejected him when the voice in his mind laughed at the idea. Not even the dementor scared him. He had almost forgotten the screams of his mother, so intrigued he was by the two other voices he heard. He was still trying to think of something when the group entered the room and Neville stepped forward. Professor Lupin opened the cabinet and the boggart came out in the form of Snape. Neville shouted out the spell and Snape was suddenly wearing a dress and vulture hat. Other students came forward; A mummy lost its wrappings, a banshee suffered from a sore throat, and a spider lost its legs.

And then it was Harry's turn. He stepped forward, still unsure of his greatest fear. The legless spider turned its beady eyes toward him, and it began to change. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed the professor running to him, but it was too late. The boggart had transformed, and for the first time in a long while, Harry was completely filled with fear…

* * *

Cliffhanger! Hurrah!


	7. Chapter 7

Howdy everyone! Here's the next chapter! I hope the reveal of Harry's boggart is up to snuff! I got so many reviews last time, it made me so happy! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and welcome to new reviewers: Tsuki-Rose, escapedslave99, FanFictionDevourer, demon scream, Orchamus, The Crazy Chick in Black, candinaru25, Syrena Li, TheDon1023, Fat ppl are harder to kidnap, .., aznblackhowling, Ribbonseal, animegamemaster6, moshi95 AKA sherley C., Amethiste, ToxicManipulator, deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover, Drakkainen, SkittleKick, hervs, and MatsumotoXD. And thanks again to those who continue to review: , My Ashland, ztanita, DragonKnight Shaun, Adel Mortescryche, BioHazard82, LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin, samurai89, Salamander Hanzo, RmfD, bloodgolore, musizlover2008, Kitsumi-Hime, and Inumaru12.

I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach.

To all those who celebrate it... Merry Christmas!!!!

* * *

Harry's wand slipped from his fingers and landed on the ground. The laughter that had filled the room instantly died. Even Professor Lupin, who had been rushing toward him, stopped. The bodiless spider was gone, and in its place was a dead body. His dead emerald eyes had lost their shine, and he stared blankly ahead, seeing nothing. His blood stained the pure white robe he wore, and he even believed he could smell it. His hair was messed up and covered in dry blood. A broken blade lying next to him, the scabbard was in shadow for some reason. The sight filled him with fear, yet it disgusted him at the same time. He was powerless, just as he had been with the Dursleys. All the strength he had gained was gone. All his hard work was for nothing. There was nothing funny about this, nothing he could do to defeat the boggart.

He vacantly watched as Professor Lupin finally continued to make his way toward him. Lupin stepped in front of him, and the boggart changed once again. As he watched his pathetic corpse become the moon, he was filled with determination. He would not let himself become like that. He would not succumb to death and he would never experience any kind of weakness. His hands clenched and unclenched tightly until his veins were clearly visible as his eyes hardened. The whispers of the voice in the back of his mind seemed to encourage him, and his resolve strengthened.

Professor Lupin destroyed the boggart, and with a wary look at him, dismissed the class. Harry ignored the stares from all his classmates and Professor Lupin's request that he stay for a few minutes. He simply picked up his wand and bag and walked out of the classroom.

* * *

Dumbledore sat staring at the many trinkets on his desk. Remus had just left his office and he could not help but linger on what he had learned about Harry's boggart. When he had heard that Remus intended to teach the student's about the dark creature, he had given some thought to what Harry's greatest fear could be. He initially thought Voldemort would be the most likely possibility, but Harry had faced him (and actually remembered the confrontations unlike his first) two times in the last two years. He seemed to have the typical Gryffindor bravery in spades.

After he dismissed the possibility of Voldemort as Harry's boggart, he remembered a quote from an American muggle: "There is nothing to fear but fear itself." Perhaps Harry's boggart would be a dementor? Harry had had a terrible experience with one on the train to Hogwarts, and he had pried from Madame Pomfrey that Harry had heard the death of his mother. He came to expect that when Harry faced the boggart, it would turn into a dementor, and he had warned Remus just in case.

But Harry's boggart had not been a dementor and it had not been Voldemort. It was death. Dumbledore's eyes lost their customary twinkle as he thought of one other particular student whose worst fear was also death. In Tom Riddle's third year, he too had faced a boggart. Like Harry, his boggart was his own corpse. He sunk his head into his hands and hoped that all his hard work would not be for nothing. He wished with all his being that Harry would not walk down the same path as Riddle.

Dumbledore, for all his great wisdom would never realize that Harry's path was completely different and far, far more terrifying.

* * *

"Harry, are you sure you should be going to quidditch practice tonight? You must be a bit… out of it after Defense Against the Dark Arts today." Harry was surprised that Hermione was the first one to bring up the lesson today. He had assumed that Ron would be the first to question him about it. He looked into Hermione's eyes as she sat across the dinner table and could see nothing but concern in them. Ron, on the other hand, was nervously glancing at the two, certain that Harry would ignore her, and Hermione would refuse to let it go. He really did not want his delicious dinner ruined by a fight.

However, much to Ron's surprise, Harry gave a devil-may-care grin and gently responded to Hermione. "Hermione, I'm fine. It was just a boggart. It wasn't real. Besides, we need to practice, so we can finally get the Cup this year." In truth, Harry did not care too much about the Quidditch house cup anymore. He just wanted peace. And riding on his broom brought him that peace.

Almost immediately after his thoughts of peace, Oliver Wood, the somewhat insane Gryffindor quidditch captain, got up and yelled out, "Come on, team! We gotta practice! You're not gonna win that Cup by sitting on your butts and pigging out! Lets go! We got tons of new moves to practice!"

_Looks like it won't be quite as peaceful as I thought.

* * *

_

For the next few nights, Oliver ran the Gryffindor quidditch team into the ground with long and difficult practices. The first game of the season was that weekend, and the team was playing Hufflepuff due to Draco Malfoy's "injury". Harry was not too worried about the game; He had bigger things on his mind. After the boggart incident, Harry was rarely alone. Ron and Hermione were constantly with him and trying to confront him about the incident. He also had to put a lot of effort into avoiding the Slytherins, who were eager to tease him, and the many professors who wanted to have a deep conversation with Harry about his boggart.

With all these people constantly on the watch for Harry, he had little time to return to the library to look at that book in the restricted section about illusions. The one time he had attempted to go somewhere with the invisibility cloak, Ron had seen him, and he had to abandon the plan. Although he had been interrupted many times, his resolve to get that book did not lessen.

However, by the week's end, Harry had yet to return to the Restricted Section and the first game of the season was about to start.

* * *

"Alright, team, this is my last chance to win the cup! We may have had accidents in the past," Oliver paused in his stirring speech to give a pained glance toward Harry, "but this year it's going to be different. That cup is ours!!! Now let's show that pretty-boy Cedric Diggory what a real team can do!" Oliver's speech seemed to light a fire in the Gryffindor players' hearts. The few doubts they had washed away and everyone was determined to win. The two teams walked out into the stormy day and got onto their brooms. With a look to both team captains, Madame Hooch released the snitch and bludgers, threw the quaffle high in the air, and blew her whistle. The game was on.

Harry shot up into the air, and he instantly began to look for the snitch. He kept an eye on Cedric as well. Minutes flew by, but Harry had seen no sign of the snitch. Gryffindor was ahead by 50 points. As he looked around the field, he finally saw a flash of gold in the corner of his eye. He instantly began to follow it, knowing that it was the snitch. He flew higher and higher into the air. He could see Cedric attempting to tail him, but he was by far the better flyer.

He finally got close enough so he could reach out and grab it. He stretched out his arm, but as he grabbed the snitch, he felt cold all over. It was the same cold he had felt on the train. He looked down below to see dementors swarming around the field. And just like on the train, Harry could hear voices in his head. But unlike last time, his mother's was not among them.

_It's difficult to step on ants without crushing them…_

_The __Sōsuke Aizen you knew never existed…_

…_such strong words… it makes you look weak…_

…_so this is the hogyoku…_

_No one every stood atop the heavens before… the unbearable vacancy of heaven's throne ends now…_

…_I will stand atop the heavens…_

_Shatter…_

_YOU ARE SO CLOSE…_

With those final words, Harry fell off of his broom. As he fell, darkness once again consumed him, and his world went completely dark.

* * *

_He sat in a dark room, above all on a large throne. He could see figures below him. Like him they were awaiting the arrival of Ulquiorra and Yammy after their trip to the world of the living._

_As if they had been summoned by his mere thoughts of them, the two walked through the door. Ulquiorra was leading, as usual. A small smile appeared on his face as he reflected on Ulquiorra's deep loyalty to him. It was nice to have such a faithful soldier. He raised an eyebrow at Yammi's condition, 'Was Kurosaki really that powerful?'_

"_We have returned, Lord Aizen." _

"_Ulquiorra, Yammy, welcome back. Now, let me hear your report…here in front of your twenty brothers and sisters." As he spoke, he could imagine the horror the Soul Society would experience if they knew the strength of his army. He saw that Ulquiorra had done nothing as if he knew that he was not completely paying attention. Could Ulquiorra read him that well?_

"_All right, Ulquiorra. Show us what you experienced in the world of the living. All of it."_

"_Yes, sir," Ulquiorra reached up to his face and pulled out his eyeball and held it out in front of him. He crushed it, "Please, see for yourselves." Everything Ulquiorra had seen appeared in front of them all. The orange haired ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki, had attempted to fight, but was brought down. Urahara and Yoruichi came forward and Ulquiorra made the decision to return. When the memory was over he noticed out loud that Ulquiorra had decided Kurosaki was not worth killing. He agreed and knew that the possible growth of his powers could be of some use to , none of this truly interested him right now. The girl, Orihime Inoue, had grabbed his attention. Her powers were nothing short of divine. Unfortunately his thoughts were distracted by the most troublesome of his espada, Grimmjow._

"_You're soft! If it was me I'd have killed that sorry punk with the first strike!"_

_He gave a silent sigh. Grimmjow was always causing some kind of trouble, and it was getting old quite quickly. He watched as his soldiers argued until Ulquiorra finally ended it saying Kurosaki's powers could be useful and if things went too far, he would kill him personally._

"_Very well. He's your responsibility, Ulquiorra. Do as you like with the boy."_

"_Thank you, sir."_

_He watched as the arrancar left the room to disperse around Las Noches. He took note of Grimmjow's furious face and knew he would have to deal with his insubordination soon._

_When the room was empty, he finally returned to his thoughts of Orihime. Her powers were amazing, and they could be used to help his plans._

_Everything was going perfectly…

* * *

_

_And also congrats to animegamemaster6 for correctly guessing what his boggart was: powerlessness. Also Kitsumi-Hime and MatsumotoXD got it kinda right by guessing death!_

_Hope you all enjoyed! _


	8. Chapter 8

Hi everyone. Sorry for the month long wait. I was spending a lot of time with family and friends. And with Christmas came lots of games that I wanted to play before returning to school where I am sadly Xbox and Playstation-less. I didn't get to beat Dragon Age and it's really torturing me... I was only a couple hours away from beating it! It's also taken me a little while to get used to my new work load this semester.

By the way all you high school readers, don't believe what your teachers say. High school is not harder than college!

I know I've been naming all my reviewers, but a lot of people have been reviewing sooooo I'll include a long author's note some other time to thank everyone. I also included a little omake since I just finished watching the bount arc (I'm behind on watching, up to date on reading). It's part of the story and isn't really good, but I needed to celebrate somehow. I hope you enjoy!

The next chapter should be up within a couple of weeks.

Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. If only...

* * *

For the second time in just a few months, Harry woke to find himself staring at the white ceiling of the hospital wing. He was surprised to find that he could remember his strange dream, but as he tried to focus on it, his concentration was completely disrupted by the shouts of the people standing off to the side of the room. It seemed as if the entire Gryffindor house was in the hospital wing, and they all were headed his way. Hermione and Ron were at the head of the group, tears running down Hermione's face. Ron, however, was a bit behind her and looked to be holding a bundle.

"Oh, Harry! We were so worried for you! You fell so far, and you were so still. I thought I had lost you." With Hermione's words came a large hug from the girl. Harry's body protested, and he almost pushed her away. He did not like physical contact unless he initiated it, and even then, it was not high on his list of favorite things. But he knew that she was simply worried for him and to push her away physically would also push her away emotionally.

Hermione finally let him go, and the Gryffindor quidditch team excitedly told him that they had won the game due to his fantastic catch. The excitement in the room dropped a bit when Ron announced the "death" of Harry's broom and then ended completely when Madame Pomfrey arrived to shoo the entire group out. Harry gave a sigh of relief and attempted to return to thoughts of his strange dream. However, he was once again interrupted. Madame Pomfrey was coming toward him with a potion in her hand.

"Dreamless sleep for you again. I'm sure you have no desire to dream of your mother's death, poor child."

_Damn. I can't reject the potion. It'd be too strange. What person would want to have nightmares? I suppose I'll simply have to wait till tomorrow…_

"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey. I was about to ask you for some, but you didn't even need me to say anything. Wonderful." Harry gave Madame Pomfrey the charming smile that seemed to be a second nature to him now with ease, and a miniscule blush rose to her cheeks. He made a face and drank the potion in a large gulp. Immediately, he could feel the affects as his eyelids seemed to grow in weight, and his brain became foggy.

_Tomorrow I'll think, but for now…rest is more than welcome…

* * *

_

The next thing Harry saw was not the Hospital Wing as he expected but the grounds of Hogwarts. He was standing near the lake with Hagrid's hut and the Forbidden Forrest in the distance. He looked behind to see the castle nearby. Everything was stationary and quiet; No students were rushing to class, and no one was playing on the quidditch pitch. No wind blew the leaves of the trees, and the lake was without ripples. In short it was as if Harry was completely alone at Hogwarts, which was an impossible event.

"Welcome."

Harry jumped in surprise at the noise that penetrated the silence of the area. He quickly looked all around him but saw nothing. He reached into his pocket to grab his wand, but he only grasped air.

"Can't you see me? We were once so close. But of course…you don't remember. You would possibly even attack me now…"

Harry could not help but feel guilty when he heard the voices sorrow. "I'm sorry, but I really have no clue who you are. What is your name?"

"If you can't even see me, I doubt you'll hear me. But I suppose I'll try to tell you anyway. My name is…"

"What? You didn't say anything! Tell me who you are and maybe I'll remember." Harry was more confused than he had been in months, and surprisingly he was filled with sadness as well. It was almost as if he had let down someone extremely important to him, someone who was more important than his family, his teachers, and even his friends. He heard a sigh close to him. He spun around again and once more saw nothing.

"I had hoped that you were could hear me, but I was wrong. But as I said before, you are close. Don't worry. Good luck, my master."

Harry's vision blurred and the landscape around him began to fade. He struggled to stay but nothing could be done. His conscious returned to the all-encompassing darkness that a dreamless sleep potion created. Unknown to him, the castle, lake, and forest remained. A figure unseen by him watched his disappearance with sad eyes and sighed once more.

"I will be seeing you soon, my Sōsuke…"

* * *

Harry's stay in the hospital wing fortunately only lasted one night. Although he expressed regret to his team members and housemates, he was happy to see that he had missed the celebration for Gryffindor's victory in the Common Room. He had more important things to think about and that ridiculous party would be too distracting. However, his friends and fellow students were eager to talk to him.

"Guys, I'm so happy to be out of the hospital wing, and while I'd love to talk and celebrate some more with you all. But I still feel exhausted after the incident yesterday." Harry saw the uncomfortable glances his listeners exchanged and knew he was free to have some time to himself. "I'm going to rest for a little while. See you guys later." He quickly made his way to the dormitory and sat on his large bed and pulled the curtains around to shut him off from everyone else.

_Finally some peace and quiet…_

Harry had much to think about. He could remember his vision from his latest dementor encounter. Even the emotions he felt in the dream remained. He could still feel the irritation he had felt in the dream when the blue-haired man spoke up. And the interest that the sight of the girl's healing powers had brought him. However, although he could remember what he had seen and felt, he did not understand his strange vision. He had never heard of anything even remotely similar to the creatures, arrancar,that he had seen. He had a strong feeling that they would not be in any Care of Magical Creatures textbook, and he doubted Hagrid knew anything about them. What was even more intriguing was the sheer power Harry had felt in the dream. He had been surrounded by insanely powerful creatures, yet his own power in that strange world was even more impressive. What was he? And more importantly… how could he regain that power?

He thought for a long time about any way he could become as strong as he was in his dream. Unfortunately, nothing special came to mind. He had the strangest feeling that it was impossible to do so without some kind of help. The constant whispers in his mind seemed to agree as well. A childish pout settled on his face, and he angrily crossed his arms over his chest. He glared at his trunk where a bit of his invisibility cloak was hanging out.

_Wait… I can go to the library and read that book. Everyone thinks I'm resting. Now's the perfect time to go look at it!_

His angry expression left his face as he let out a small chuckle. He donned his invisibility cloak and stealthily journeyed to the library. He avoided the few students he saw and managed to slip into the library unnoticed. The restricted section was empty, as usual, and Harry had no trouble finding the book on illusions. He lowered himself to sit on the floor and opened his book. He could not risk taking the book out without permission. Who knew what kind of spells were in place to prevent such a thing? He flipped to the first chapter and began to read. He had a lot of work to do.

Just an hour into reading his new favorite book, Harry had already read two chapters. He had not yet had a chance to practice them since he had no desire to be caught using "dark" spells in the school library. He had written notes as well on a separate sheet of parchment he had been smart enough to grab before he left his dorm. As he prepared to begin the third chapter, his attention was grabbed by the nearly silent sound of footsteps approaching. He quickly covered the book and his notes with his cloak and got as close to the bookcase as possible.

He had reacted just in time. A girl his age with a Slytherin crest on her robes had just entered his aisle. He was impressed that she had made it this far into the restricted section with no invisibility cloak or spell he could see. However, he could not for the life of him remember the girl's name. Blackweed maybe? No…

The girl reached up to the upper level of the bookcase and grabbed a book on what he suspected was dark magic considering where he was. She quickly scanned the page and took notes. She returned the book and was then gone. It took her a grand total of five minutes. He waited for the shout of Madame Pince that she gave out whenever she found someone in the Restricted Section who was not supposed to be there, but he never heard it. The girl must have gotten away.

_Perhaps I should look into this girl. She is quite impressive…_

Making a mental note to learn more about the girl he had just seen, such as her name, he turned back to his book. He had another thirty or so minutes before he should return to his dorm. Plenty of time to learn more.

* * *

Omake ~ Aizen meets a bount

For some reason unknown to even himself, Sōsuke Aizen found himself in the soul society. He had absolutely no clue how he could have been brought there when he had abandoned the soul society just a short time ago. He turned to return to Hueco Mundo, but he came face to face with a man with the some of the strangest eyebrows he had ever seen. He cocked his head. How did the man manage to do such a thing? Did he spend time in the morning actually putting effort into look like an idiot?

"Soul Reaper, I shall destroy you to avenge the fallen bounts!" With this the man seemed to gather wind and rushed toward him at a speed that would have been invisible to a lesser soul reaper. However, Aizen was no weakling. He easily evaded the attack and quickly drew his zanpakto to slash the man. He succeeded, and the man was heavily bleeding.

"Pathetic…" Aizen sheathed his sword and once more prepared himself to return to Las Noches. However, a laugh drew his attention back to the fallen bount.

"The Soul Society is filled with reishi which we bounts can use to regenerate making us invincible!" Aizen's eyebrow lifted a fraction when he saw the wound closing up, and, for some inexplicable reason, his clothes were fixed as well. That made no sense at all… He saw the bount rushing to attack him once more and he once more slashed the man. And the wound healed once more.

"The Soul Society is filled with reishi which we bounts can use to regenerate making us invincible!"

"…You just said the exact same thing seconds ago."

And once more the man rushed forward. This time Aizen raised his hand and spoke, "Hado 90. Black Coffin." His opponent was trapped inside the large black box and spears shot through it. However, the annoyance refused to die.

"The Soul Society is filled with reishi which we bounts can use to regenerate making us invincible!"

"Stop saying that."

For the fourth and final time, Aizen was attacked. This time he got out of the way and softly said, "Shatter Kyoka Suigetsu." He hypnotized the man to start punching himself with his own wind-surrounded fist. He watched the man repeatedly create holes in his own body for a few seconds and smiled. With a miniscule skip to his step, he finally exited the soul society to return to his nice castle and the warm tea that was waiting for him.

The other soul reapers never could figure out why Jin Kariya was found injuring himself until he was somehow snapped out of it. Fortunately he was killed just a little later and all was well in the world.

* * *

I know Aizen was kinda out of character especially with the skip to his step, but hey deal with it.

Was it just me or did hearing the bounts say they were invincible five million times make you want to reach into the tv/computer and stuff something down their throats to shut them up. Also the clothes fixing themselves just really annoyed me...


	9. Chapter 9

Howdy gals and pals! Once again, I'm super sorry for the delay. Miderms have been going on and papers have been assigned like crazy. I've had to pull all nighters and I really hate those. Grrrrrrrrr. Also my stupid computer froze when I had the chapter finished and I had to rewrite like half of it sooooo yeah. On a happier note, I went to see the Alice in Wonderland midnight showing and recomend that people go see it! An update should happen some time next week cause it's spring break so lots of free time!!

Anyway I'd like to thank all my super special awesome reviewers! You guys are all so nice to leave me reviews. I love opening my email to find that I got reviews. It makes me so happy!

I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter. :(

* * *

Harry only just managed to make it make to the Gryffindor dorms his "rest" was disturbed, and he soon found himself back in the Common Room surrounded once more by people He ignored those he barely knew and went straight for his comfort zone, Hermione and Ron. The two were arguing once again about Scabbers and Crookshanks, just as they had been on the train the day everything had begun to change so drastically.

"Come on, Hermione! Just take the cat home with you over Christmas break and leave him with your parents. Scabbers is going grey with fright because of that demonic beast!"

"Ron, I don't how care how grey you think your rat has gotten, I'm not getting rid of Crookshanks!" Rather than annoy him as it had before, their argument gave him a sense of familiarity that had been missing from his life for the past couple of months. It was sometimes entertaining to watch the two exchange words, a bit like a tennis match. He smiled as Ron grew redder and redder.

"Hermione, Scabbers has been at Hogwarts for years! He has the right to live out his last years in peace!"

Harry's smirk widened, and he could not resist the urge to say something. "Well, Ron, Scabbers could live out his last years in peace at the Burrow…" Ron's twisted his head to gape at Harry for the betrayal, and Hermione jumped on the opportunity.

"Harry's suggestion is wonderful! Scabbers has spent a decade at Hogwarts! Why doesn't he relax at the Burrow? I'm sure you wouldn't really mind. You were complaining constantly about him for the past two years!" Harry laughed as Ron sputtered some response about his rat's rights. Hermione began to laugh with him, and Ron eventually joined in the laughter as well. Their laughter echoed around the Common Room, and it continued for minutes. As their laughter died, the trio decided to go down to the Great Hall for dinner. As they traversed the confusing halls and stairs of Hogwarts, all thoughts of illusions and voices were pushed to the back of Harry's head for a short while.

* * *

The trio sat at the Gryffindor table with empty plates in front of them, Harry had looked over to the Slytherin table a few times during the course of their dinner, hoping to get a glance of the girl from the library, but he never saw her. They had had a good meal and the drowsiness that often accompanied a good meal was overtaking them. The group was ready to return to the Common Room and relax. However, Harry's lethargy disappeared when he saw Malfoy and his goons headed his way. He unconsciously straightened up, and the satisfied look on his face seemed to morph into acareless smirk.

Malfoy stood in front of Harry, and although he seemed a little unnerved by Harry's careless attitude, he looked as if he wished to engage in their traditional exchange of insults. "Hey, Potter, that was quite a fall from your broom! All because a few dementors hundreds of feet away? How pathetic!" Malfoy had his usual arrogant look on his face, and as he laughed, his cronies joined in.

Harry yanked Ron's rising body back down without even looking at him or his expression changing. "Come now, Malfoy, you are only insulting yourself. You have never been able to get the better of me, and if I am as pathetic as you claim, that makes you even more pathetic does it not? So could you please drag your useless carcass back to your own table?"

Malfoy's pale face reddened at Harry's words. He struggled to find some kind of retort. "I'm a Malfoy! You cannot insult me like this. My father will hear of this, I swear it!"

"And now you've done what seemed to be the impossible and made yourself even more worthless. Hide behind your father once again and again, Malfoy. It makes no difference to me." Malfoy had nothing more to say to Harry, and with a huff, he left the Gryffindors. Harry's eyes followed him back to his table and watched as Malfoy barely controlled his rage. Hermione let out a small snicker, and Ron was largely grinning.

"You showed him, Harry! Stupid pansy!"

Harry continued to watch Malfoy. It seemed like his fellow Slytherin's were teasing him over the failed insults. Malfoy ran his hand through his hair, messing up his usual slicked back style. One older Slytherin next to him whispered something in his ear and shoved him. It seemed as if this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Harry imagined that his pride and ego would no longer let him listen to such insults. With a furious look in his eyes, he grabbed a fork and brutally shoved it into the hand of his older tormentor and pinned it to the table. A yell of pain cut through the chatter of the hall, and all fell silent. Snape quickly made his way toward the table and dragged Malfoy away, with Dumbledore following close behind. Harry's eyes widened at the unexpectedness of the action.

'_It seems Malfoy is a bit unhinged and actually has quite the temper'_

"Damn! Looks like Malfoy's gone insane!"

"Ron, I would not speak so little of him. In the future, he might just have the power to actually back up his arrogance."

Hermione and Ron laughed as if Harry was making a joke. The two had seen Malfoy beaten too often to see him as any kind of a threat. Harry, on the other hand, continued to look at the door Malfoy had been dragged through. The vision the dementors had brought on came to mind. He could not help but compare Malfoy's rage and arrogance with that of the blue-haired creature. Both were rowdy individuals that they needed a lot of patience to deal with.

The trio rose from their table and left the Great Hall. Harry was so lost in thought about his strange vision that he completely missed the girl he had been searching for walk through the giant doors as they returned to their Common Room.

* * *

They learned the next morning Malfoy was punished with a week's worth of detentions and lost fifty points for attacking another student. Hermione was outraged, claiming that he had cruelly injured another student and should receive a harsher punishment. Harry was resolved to keep a better eye on Malfoy; Who knew what the fool would do next?

After an interesting weekend, it seemed quite boring to return to classes, especially Divination. Harry now considered the class his least favorite; At least History of Magic gave him an opportunity to work on other the classes' work, and the history was actually fascinating when it was not solely about goblins or taught by a ghost. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about it. Harry felt caged in that hot and closed off room. Transfiguration was typical, as was Charms. Defense against the Dark Arts the next day was nothing too special, but after class Lupin asked Harry to stay for a few minutes.

"Harry, I heard about your fall this weekend. Is everything all right?"

"Other than my broom, I'm good. I'm just glad I was not seriously injured."

"Wonderful, Harry. However, I asked you to stay late for more than just speaking about your health. Unfortunately, the dementors seem to be attracted to you. There is a spell to drive them away that I can teach you. I am not sure if you will be able to perform it, but I believe you should try."

Harry felt quite conflicted. On one hand, he could learn a new spell and stop passing out whenever a dementor got close to him. On the other hand, the visions he experienced intrigued him. He knew that it was foolish to want to keep on experiencing the dementor's effect on him, but he could not help it. What if the visions went away if he could drive away the beings that brought them about? However, he could not refuse to learn the spell; it would look quite strange if he said he would actually like to hear his mother's dying screams (as they all thought he heard).

"Of course, Professor. Those things are terrifying, and I do not want to know what might happen if I confront one alone without the knowledge to stop one."

"Well, we'll start lessons as soon as possible then. Now, I can't just bring a dementor in here. What to do, what to do? You better go to lunch, Harry. I'll think of something."

"See you later, Professor Lupin."

* * *

For the next few days, things were normal for Harry. Unknown to him, he continued to barely miss the girl he had seen in the also searched for her in class, but it seemed as if she was either sick or she had no interest in attending class.

By the end of the week Harry got a letter from Lupin asking him to meet him Friday evening for his first lesson on how to repel the dementors. He met him in his office Friday evening feeling slightly nervous. He entered Lupin's office to see the man pacing.

"Hello, Harry! We're going to be going to the grounds to work on this in a few minutes. I was hoping to use a boggart, but in all of my classes, not one person's boggart was a dementor. So we're going to be taking quite a risk and use a real one. You won't be any danger; I will be there, as will another teacher. I'm not sure who Dumbledore asked to join us though. However, it will be very difficult, and although I know you are a gifted wizard, I doubt you will be able to grasp this spell for a while. However, I must first teach you the theory of the spell. Now the spell is _Expecto Patronum_…"

Professor Lupin gave a very thorough and informative talk on the Patronus Charm and after a few practice tries, the two were headed down to the grounds. Harry knew that he needed a happier memory than his first broom ride as he had been using and he was desperately searching through his memories for his happiest one. He was concentrating so intensely, he walked right into someone.

"Watch where you're going, Potter!" He looked at his fellow student to see the girl he had been searching for the past week.

"Now, now, Miss Greengrass. No need to be so rude. Mr. Potter did not mean to, I am sure."

'_Greengrass? Blackweed wasn't too far off…who am I kidding?'_

The Slytherin snorted and picked up her books, shoving away the helping hand Harry attempted to give. "Whatever. See you in class, _Professor_." She said Lupin's title with no small amount of scorn, gave Harry a harsh glare, and stalked off in the direction of the dungeons.

'_Well, our meeting did not go as I had hoped.'_

'_**Yes, that was quite awful'**_

'_What the hell? You're that voice from my dream! Why can I hear you now?'_

**…**

'_Hello? Anybody there? I have got be going insane. Then again…was I ever completely sane to begin with?'_

"Exactly how long are you planning on standing there, Harry?"

"Whoops, sorry Professor Lupin." Harry jogged to catch up with Lupin, his mind once more filled with questions.

'_Why can't anything normal ever happen to me?'_

'_**Because then you would not be you'**_

Harry was positive that the voice was laughing at him, but he could not prevent a smile from appearing on his face.

* * *

The duo reached the edge of the grounds after a few minutes of polite conversation. They had seen the figure of whoever was going to help Lupin keep the dementor from harming Harry, but they could not tell who it was until they got quite close. When the figure finally could be recognized, Harry's heart sunk. Professor Snape was standing there with a grimace on his face. Harry could see the loathing in Snape's eyes at the sight of Lupin and himself.

"So, Mr. Potter, it seems as if your fame has once again garnered you special attention in the form of exclusive lessons."

"Severus, Mr. Potter is getting these lessons because he has a very severe reaction to dementors. If any other student also suffered from the dementors so, they would receive lessons as well."

"Of course, Lupin. Let's just get this finished. Potter, I assume you have thought of a memory by now. No doubt having to do with people fawning over you."

"Yes, Professor Snape." Actually Harry had not been able to think of anything very happy yet, but he was not about to tell Snape that.

Lupin smiled. "Then let's try it out. Now, Harry, I doubt we will be able to do this more than once or twice, but all the practice will definitely help. Now picture that memory, and get ready."

Apparently, a single dementor had been corralled to the area, and the others were going to be held off by wards prepared by Dumbledore. Snape and Lupin were ready to produce their Patronuses when Harry could not handle the dementor.

Harry tightly gripped his wand, and he frantically searched his mind for a better memory. Suddenly, he thought of Ron and Hermione, the first friends he had ever had. A memory of the three of them should work right? He pictured them all laughing and hanging out in the Common Room without a care in the world.

As he thought, he noticed the temperature start to go down. He saw movement in the trees on the edge of the grounds. He could see a dementor gliding towards him. He concentrated as hard as he could on his friends and shouted out the spell.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ A small amount of silver mist seemed to come from his wand, but it formed no shape like Professor Lupin had told him it should. However, the two professors still looked shocked. Sadly, the mist slowly faded away as the dementor got closer and closer. Harry shouted out the spell again, ignoring the voices that were progressively getting louder in the back of his mind. Nothing happened this time. The dementor was too close and the voices were too overwhelming. He could hear whispers of names and places

_Hueco Mundo…Ulquiorra…Gin…Las Noches…Grimmjow…Seireitei…Yamamoto…Tousen…Kurosaki…Karakura…Urahara_

There was too much running through his head. He fell to the ground. Before his eyes closed completely he saw Professors Lupin and Snape use their Patronuses. Before he could identify the forms, Harry was unconscious.

* * *

_Harry was on the same grounds he had just passed out on. He looked around to see if anything was different this time. Like the last time, they were totally empty and everything was perfectly still._

_With a bored look on his face, he sat on the ground and put his head in his hands. "I've passed out again. What a surprise. It is getting slightly irritating. Not to mention pathetic." _

"_**It's not pathetic. You're simply trying to remember, and when you're unconscious it's the best chance."**_

_Harry looked around for the owner of the voice, but saw nothing. He sighed. "You again? Could you tell me your name this time?"_

"_**I did tell you last time. You did not listen. I'll try again though. I am…"**_

"_I did not hear anything."_

"_**Oh well. You'll hear me soon enough."**__ The voice sounded as if it was absolutely positive. Harry once again looked around. He saw nothing, but as he scanned the area for the third time, he saw the grass move as if someone was walking on it and the branches of trees move as if someone was pushing them away._

_There was laughter now floating around him. __**"You are on the way. Maybe in a little while… Those men are waking you up now. I'll talk you later… Sōsuke."**_

_**

* * *

**_

Btw: I have a new story up. Just 1 chapter right now though. It's a Kingdom Hearts and Harry Potter story so go check it out!


	10. Chapter 10

Uhhhh hi everyone! First of all I'd like to apologize for the horrible wait. I had a real lack of inspiration after the last chapter. I was not sure where exactly I wanted to go with the story. I have a very broad outline, but I was kinda confused about how I was gonna get there. Especially this chapter when it's not the most exciting one to write. Then when I was finally almost done in August, my computer's hard drive was wiped. So that really pissed me off. Especially since I told the people not to wipe it... assholes. Anyway, to any of my readers of my other stories, I haven't gotten much progress done on the chapters I lost for those. Sorry! I've been slowly working on rewriting this chapter as well as improving what I remembered. And also I wanna apologize for this chapter not being a super interesting one. But there's another chapter coming! I swear to all of you it has about 1000 words done and will be up within a week or two at the most.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed the story, as well as those who have put this on their favorites and alerts. You guys are all awesome, especially putting up with my making you all wait for sooooo long.

Sooooo yeah... enjoy! Obviously I don't own Bleach or Harry Potter

* * *

Waking up to Snape's beady eyes looking down upon him and his putrid breath hitting his face was an experience that Harry never wanted to repeat. He quickly tried to get up and in his haste he accidently head butted the potions master. Snape fell back cursing. Harry had thought it impossible to increase Snape's hatred of him, but the loathing in Snape's eyes seemed to have increased tenfold. He quickly averted his eyes from his angry professor and saw Lupin who seemed to be caught between amusement and professional concern for his colleague. When he noticed Harry's gaze on him, Lupin gave an encouraging smile to Harry.

"Harry, you did much better than Professor Snape and I expected. Producing mist on your first try while encountering an actual dementor is wonderful! Hopefully you'll be able to master the spell relatively soon. Unfortunately, we're not going to make another attempt today." Harry's face fell in disappointment. Lupin noticed and let out a chuckle. "I'm surprised that you're so eager to continue. Most people would never willingly confront a dementor. But I won't be bringing you to Madame Pomfrey unconscious due to dementors for the third time in just a few months. She would either attack me for putting you in such a position or force you to take up up permanent residence in the hospital wing to keep it from happening again."

Harry let out a small laugh at both of the images Lupin's words produced while Snape muttered under his breath about his strong desire to see the later of the two scenarios, preferably with Harry in a permanent vegetative state.

"Now, let's get you back to the castle, Harry. There's still plenty of time before dinner. I know you must be dying to work on all the homework that's due this week, especially that short essay for my class."

The strange trio made their way back up to the castle. Snape could not seem to walk to his dungeons fast enough and had reached the large doors of Hogwarts before the other two were even halfway there. Harry and Professor Lupin walked at a much more leisurely pace as they discussed the topic of the previous reading assigned to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.

When the two reached the staircases, they split up, Lupin to his classroom to work on the following week's lesson plans and Harry to the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry walked on autopilot; he had been going up and down the stairs long enough to know all the turns and trick steps. Rather than focus on the path to the Common Room, Harry was attempting to come up with a better happy memory for his patronus charm. The memory of his friends had unfortunately not been strong enough. He found it a bit hard to believe; Ron and Hermione were the only friends he had ever known and the closest people to him.

No, not the closest. He knew with a strange certainty that the being he had encountered in his mindscape while he was unconscious knew more about him than Ron and Hermione. Actually, Harry felt as if that being knew him even better than he knew himself. For a brief moment he considered using their meeting as his patronus memory, but rejected the idea quickly. When he thought back to that meeting, his disappointment in not seeing the figure overpowered any feeling of happiness he experienced during the encounter. Harry continued to look through his memories, trying to find the happiest one, but kept on returning to that voice. Perhaps if he was able to see it…

"Well, are you going to say the password or not, you scurvy cur? You've been standing there for five minutes already!"

Harry started at the voice of Sir Cadogen, the one who had replaced the Fat Lady after her refusal to return due to Sirius Black's failed attempt to enter the Common Room on Halloween.

"Oddsbodikins."

"You may enter, brave knight! Please forgive me for my previous insult and-"

Harry rolled his eyes and walked through the now open entrance to the Common Room. In the main area, he saw Hermione sitting at a table with several books on several different subjects surrounding her along with numerous pieces of parchments. Ron was intensely looking at the chessboard and seemed to be playing against himself. Harry was surprised to see Ginny with Ron and Hermione writing what appeared to be a potions essay. Just as he was gazing her way, she saw him. Her eyes ran up and down his body in a manner that he presumed was clinical and checking for any injuries. She opened her mouth to say something but someone else had noticed Harry's return.

"Harry! You're back! That didn't take very long. Did you cast the charm?" Hermione rushed over to him and like Ginny looked over him in an attempt to see any possible harm done to him. Ron looked away from his chess game and joined Hermione with Harry. Ginny hung back a little from the trio, seemingly afraid to intrude on the close group of friends. However, her eyes never left Harry.

"Hello, Hermione, Ron, Ginny. Unfortunately, I did not manage to cast the patronus. Probably because I was up against an actual dementor," all three of Harry's listeners gasped, "But I did create some mist on my first and only try." Ron and Ginny did not see any importance in his accomplishment, but Hermione looked impressed.

"Wow, Harry! I've been doing some research and it's supposed to be very difficult to do that on your first try. Especially when you're facing a dementor." Hermione shuddered at the thought of those horrific creatures.

"That is what Professor Lupin told me."

Ron shook his head at Harry. "Willingly going up against a dementor. I always knew you were absolutely mental." Harry playfully hit his shoulder while Hermione laughed. Ginny gave a small chuckle and had actually stepped closer to the group.

"So what were you all up to while I was out?" Harry asked his friends. Hermione began to go into a long discussion on studying for their upcoming Charms exam and writing their Transfiguration essay due that week. However, Harry was only half listening. Most of his attention was directed to deciding whether or not he should go out once again saying he was going to the library and instead actually look for a place to practice the spells from the book he had borrowed (not stole, borrowed, that's his story and he's sticking to it!) from the Restricted Section. Even after a few weeks of searching he had been unable to find a suitable place. The library and Common Room were out for obvious reasons. He did not trust any of the unused classrooms as anyone could walk in at any time. Plus Dumbledore seemed to know what was always going on in the castle, so Harry was unsure if there was even a place inside the castle he could use.

"…it is six inches longer than McGonagall asked for, but I am sure that she would not mind." Harry shook his head a bit and gave a small distracted smile to Hermione.

"Of course she won't mind." Hermione's eyes narrowed a bit at his answer, perhaps sensing that he had not really been paying attention to anything she had just said. Luckily, Ron was there to save the day.

"Well, Harry, I've been playing chess against myself and would love to have an actual opponent. Even if it's you." Ron had not played Harry in wizard chess in a long time and had no idea just how much Harry had grown mentally recently.

Harry gave a subtle longing glance toward his dormitory, which contained his book and his invisibility cloak. But he had not spent too much time with Ron recently, and he was actually looking forward to seeing if he could beat the boy who was surprisingly good at chess. "All right, Ron. You're on!"

The group split up; Harry and Ron went to the chessboard and started one of many games they would play that afternoon while Hermione and Ginny returned to their schoolwork. The Common Room was enveloped in a comfortable silence as the Golden Trio plus Ginny enjoyed their afternoon.

* * *

That night, after playing multiple games of chess with Ron (and actually winning for once!) and finishing up his homework, Harry left the Common Room under his invisibility cloak with his borrowed book in his hands. It was past curfew and his friends along with many other Gryffindors had gone to sleep. However, Harry was too determined to sleep.

_I will find a place to practice. There has to be somewhere in this castle where no one will be able to find me._

Harry headed down the stairs and turned onto the fourth floor. He continued a ways and made another turn and then froze. Mrs. Norris was staring right at him with her creepy, piercing eyes. He was not sure if the cloak worked on animals, but he was pretty positive that it did not mask his scent. His suspicions were confirmed when Mrs. Norris meowed loudly, calling out for Filch. His eyes widened when he heard Filch coming his way; He had no idea that the bitter squib was so close. His eyes widened further when he heard Snape's voice.

"Filch, where the hell are you going?"

"There's a student out of bed, and I'll make sure they're punished! It's what they all deserve!"

_What is Snape doing here? And with Filch? It is like first year all over again!_

Harry knew that Snape had an inkling, if not necessarily any certainty, of how he managed to get around the castle unseen after curfew. And he had no intention of getting caught by the teacher who would be most likely to confiscate his cloak and conveniently forget to return it. Harry quickly made his way back to the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. The stairs had changed once again, and the only way to go was up but in a different direction than the Common Room. He ended up back on the seventh floor and randomly chose a hallway he rarely used. Harry stopped for a moment and heard the steps and voices of Filch and Snape slowly fade away. The young teen sighed in relief and looked down the hallway. However, the relief soon morphed into annoyance. He began to pace up and down a section of the hall.

_All I want is somewhere to practice magic. Somewhere no one will be able to find me. Why is that so difficult? I'm in a bloody castle of magic!_

After he turned to make his fourth walk down the hallway, he stopped in shock. A door that had not been there seconds ago was now in the middle of the hall. Harry slowly headed to the door, taking out his wand as he did so. It was best to be prepared. He might just come across yet another three-headed dog. Harry carefully opened the door and peeked his head in. He blinked and then blinked again.

The room was absolutely huge with mirrors lining one of the walls and mats covering the floor. Bookshelves took up another wall and he saw from the titles that they covered multiple forms of magic, nothing dangerous but still useful.

Harry's lips curved into a smirk as he walked to the middle of the mats. "I think I have finally found a room."

The female voice then sounded in his head again, _**'Hmm, could use a bit more redecorating through...'**_

Harry smirked in amusement at the voice, "For some inexplicable reason... I actually agree with you."

And before his very eyes...the room...changed to something else...

* * *

Hurray for the Room of Requirement! Next chapter will be much more plotty, with an interaction with Daphne, maybe Malfoy too. And maybe a few others little surprises...

Thanks for reading, you super special awesome people! And to all those with finals/essays right now good luck!


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